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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Christmas Past, Present and Future

Ladies, meet my husband. He has no idea he is on my blog this week and would probably tell me I am trying to steal his soul by posting it on the internet! He is known as David, Poppi and my blog reference to him is the Man.
This lovely picture was taken last weekend by my dear cousin who aspires to be a photographer. Thank you Heidi!

As I bustle around this Christmas season I realized that Christmas is just not what it used to be. It's still beautiful, magical and wonderful. Just not the same

When our boys were young my husband and I would walk out of the toy stores with gigantic bags of trucks, action figures and everything in between. I would hide everything in the attic waiting until Christmas Eve night to wrap it all up. . I quickly gave up on name tags and just starting using different wrapping paper for each child and laying their handmade stockings on top of the pile. It made for a long night but it was all worth it.
Our tree was huge and mainly decorated with handmade ornaments and sentimental mementos. Even the garland was made out of torn strips of fabric tied to a string. I remember having all of the scraps in a big basket in the living room and every child that came in would contribute a few ties to the garland.
The boys would wake up so very excited. Jumping around and torn paper literally all over the house.
At that time we lived in a house built in the 20's and it had a huge fireplace. That too was one of our traditions.
That gifts quickly slid into very small bags of electronics which cost a hell of a lot more than trucks and action figures. The excitement was still there for them. But that's when it started to dim a bit for me.

Our kids are now grown and we are usually left to our own devises..........depending on our mood that can be good or bad.
Our tree is what is called "slim" it is monochromatic, mostly with a collection of Wallace silver bells, a few Waterford snowflake ornaments and some precious glass ornaments from my Mom and Grandmother.

There are no grandchildren in our lives. Two boys are in college full time and one is in the Navy. The girlfriend of Navy boy has a 20 month old little angel. I adore her but keep my heart protected. I guess it's a good thing they live in Seattle. I wish them more than the best of luck and all of my love. It's a hard life when you are young and trying to start a new relationship and raise a precious little baby girl.
I did have a tremendous amount of fun shopping for her. It was the first time I was able to buy little tiny pink skirts and the cutest little fur vest..........This could get me in trouble!
Christmas Eve we will have a family dinner and I'm sure the fellas will head off to bigger and better things.
My husband and I will probably stay home watching old Christmas movies and somehow champagne usually makes it into the picture.
We open our gifts on Christmas morning and yes, those old handmade stockings are still on top of their pile of gifts.
The last several years we've volunteered on Christmas day at a local Elks club cooking and serving 60+ sailors that were stationed or sometimes still in boot camp at Great Lakes. There were so many volunteers last year we decided to decline this year and spend the time with our family.

I wonder what Christmas future will bring us. I'm not yet longing for a house full of little ones. But it does seem to put the spirit back into the season.
Christmas future will just have to wait. When it's ready I'll be ready too!

So Merry Christmas and take a minute to cherish Christmas past, present and look forward to the miracles of Christmas future.......You never know.............

If you have time to link up to my current Trending Through the Decades: Christmas Style It's a fun link up where you can show how your age decade styles a current trend. This week is indeed all about Christmas. So take a minute and stop by!
All that I ask is that you try to remember to link back to me in your blog and if possible put your age decade next to your name. Ex: Tammy @ Silverstyle (50's)

6 comments:

What a lovely picture of you and your sweetie! Having kids is bittersweet. It's so difficult to let them go and not to look back on those "simple" Christmases with a teary nostalgia. I hope you and your family (even if it's just you and hubby at home) have a MAGNIFICENT Christmas! Much love to you and yours! ~Serene

what a lovely lovely post! I enjoy reading this so much. It's wonderful to hear about your family, thanks for being so open about your personal life, it's great to get to know you and your family a little bit better! I like this picture of you and your hubby, so beautiful!

By the way Tammy I sent you an email last week to ask for your address, you're the winner of the landmark movie tickets giveaway, I need to arrange for the tickets to be delivered to you! So please email me your address.

Have a wonderful christmas weekend! I just came back from my holiday, so will be busy this week, catch up soon!

Merry Christmas Tammy, this made me a little sad but it is bitter sweet. You and your husband look alike. see what happens after all the years together! Beautiful photo, wishing you all very happy holidays. Dawn Suitcase Vignettes xo

A beautiful post showing a beautiful couple! Congratulations!I remember being excited on Christmas morning, with my two brothers, to open the presents! We don't have kids now, so we don't have the fun of buying presents for children. Since last year festive days are not the same, cause we lost our parents last year. My mom passed away on Dec 6, and on the 4th she was giving me instructions of what to buy to my brothers, and money for me to decide about something for me. She thought of us up to the last minute... :'( This year I travelled 8,000 miles in November to be with my brothers. We don't have a Christmas tree, but being together makes a huge difference; I guess our parents would be proud of us.Your picture is so sweet! And the stories too!Have a great Christmas!!!

Hi Tammy! Will definitely try to link up to this once I post Christmas outfit shots!!! Nice to 'meet' yout husband! I still get excited by Christmas and I really coming to my boyfriend's parents as we act like kids still!! 30 going on 2!!! I hope that your Christmas is lovely, despite feeling different!!!

Tammy, thanks for sharing such a heartfelt post. As I read this I think of my parents. Our Christmas traditions and where we'd spend them used to be a given but with B in my life now it's about balancing times with different sets of family. It'll become even harder once my brother and sister have partners. And the comment about protecting your heart struck a chord because my mom said the same thing to me in a different context. But it sounds like you've got a lot of love in your life and a good perspective on what really matters during the holidays. Hope it was a wonderful one. You and your husband make a handsome pair.